About the Collection

The twenty-eight glass lantern slides in this collection were produced by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1844–1939) as visual aids for promoting the denomination’s domestic and international missionary work. These hand-colored slides include images taken in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia, Brazil, Cuba, and Russia. Twelve slides bear the markings of the Board of Missions and were produced circa 1910 to 1930. Sixteen of the slides were produced under the auspices of the Centenary Commission, a group that raised more than $50,000,000 during 1918 and 1919 to honor the one-hundredth anniversary of the formation of the Methodist Missionary Society. Centenary funds were used by the Board of Missions to support diverse mission projects and to promote spiritual growth amongst Southern Methodists.